Depending on your level of patience for such things, you may or may not recall a certain viral story from earlier this month in which a woman discovered a hidden apartment by way of a secret entrance tucked away behind a mirror in her bathroom.
In a multi-part TikTok saga, Samantha Hartsoe walked her followers through what happened after she decided to get to the bottom of why she kept noticing seemingly out-of-place drafts of air in the bathroom of her NYC apartment. The resulting videos, all of which carry the “A New York City Mystery” title, quickly became wildly popular.
Naturally, they also spurred a wave of inadvertently well-timed Candyman references.
Now, the inevitable has happened: an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show.
“I feel around and I realize [the air is] coming from behind my mirror,” Hartsoe told the host on Tuesday when asked to walk viewers through what happened. “So at this point, I’m not even concerned about being cold. I’m more upset that my mirror comes off. Because I’m thinking, I’m brushing my teeth, I’m taking out my Invisalign and at any point this mirror could just [fall] and I’m done. So then I’m like, OK, can we get it off? Can I fix it? And that’s when I take it off and discover the hole, which is not what I was expecting.”
As for why she ended up actually crawling through the hole, Hartsoe explained that none of her friends were willing to participate in such an activity. “My roommates had zero interest in going in,” she said. “I feel like there are two types of people. Like, my roommates and most of my followers who probably live really happy, really healthy long lives and do not go in holes. And then there’s me and there’s people that do. There’s no way. I can’t live in my apartment and not know what’s on the other side of my bathroom.”
From there, Hartsoe reflected on how her parents reacted to the original videos becoming popular on social media, joking that—while she currently spends most of her time working for a nonprofit—“this is what my mom is proud of me for.”
For good measure, DeGeneres then informed Hartsoe that she was being gifted with a new bathroom vanity and $10,000. See the full interview up top. And for the original TikTok videos that started it all, check here.
